What: The membership model is attracting new interest for its potential to unlock sustainability solutions as well as commercial advantages.

Why is it important: Subscription-based business models are attracting interest to drive deeper engagement with customers and tackle tricky sustainability challenges. Memberships could help dissociate fashion brands’ sales from production growth, enable more recycling and reduce waste.

Brands like outerwear startup Early Majority and On Running are experimenting with the business model. On Running introduced a subscription service last September in anticipation of the launch of its first recyclable shoe this summer. The brand is betting consumers will shell out USD 30 a month for a shoe subscription, just like they do for Spotify.

Once the new shoe drops in June, members of the brand’s Cyclon service will be able to trade their pair in for a replacement every six months. The goal is to solve a pain point that has plagued efforts to make fashion more circular: the friction associated with getting back old products so they can be recycled.

At present only a handful of sustainability-focused brands are experimenting with new subscription models, but how they perform over the coming months will serve as a valuable case study for others in the sector.

Can memberships solve fashion’s sustainability challenges?